The Rising of the Sun
by Lady Jenna
Summary: War has sprung up again in China and Shang and his troops have been taken hostage, and only the head of Mulan can save them. Unless of course her child comes to the rescue.
1. Default Chapter

"The Rising of the Sun" 

By: Lady Jenna

"Discipline, and strength, gotcha Baba," a little girl said standing at the bottom of a pole stuck vertically in the ground. She wore clothes that Chinese Soldiers in training wear and had her hair tied up into a large bun on the top of her head. She held two straps tied to two rounded stones that were about the height of her leg. Her father stood beside her standing with his shoulders straight and his head held high.

"You need both to reach the arrow," he told her with the strict tone of Chinese General.

"I know Baba, we've tried this a hundred times, and I still can't lift these things!" the girl said and grunted as she tried to lift the heavy stones. 

"You're not supposed to have to carry them as a burden, you must use discipline and strength together, like partners," a tall elegant woman said and walked over beside the girl's father. 

"Your mother learned that the hard way," her father joked. 

"Right after your father tried to convince me to quit," her mother quipped. 

"I was just a captain then."

"That's right, now you're my father, General Li Shang," the girl said as she dragged the stones toward the pole. 

"And married to the most famous woman in all of China," Shang said and smiled to Mulan. Mulan knelt down and rubbed her hand in her daughter's hair. 

"When Ming grows up, she will become the most famous woman China has ever seen!"

"But first she has to reach…"

"The arrow! I got it _again_ Baba!" a young woman said from the top of a pole stuck vertically in the ground. She had two straps connected to two rounded stones slung over her shoulder. Her father stood on the ground below her, looking up at his daughter. 

"Alright you can come down Ming, that's enough training for today," Shang told her as she climbed down the pole. 

"I've gone up and down that pole so many times it's getting worn," she commented as she walked toward her father.

"Yes, you've become a very good soldier. If you weren't my daughter I'd be proud to have you in my army," he said as they walked toward the house, the sun beginning to set behind them. 

"Were I any other daughter I would be in your army," she grumbled.

"Your mother and I have discussed this with you, Ming. You are our daughter, not our son, you will not run away, and you will not dress like a soldier."

"But I'm dressed as one now Baba! All the men of both country and court see me as their equal!"

"As do the women. You meet with the Matchmaker in a matter of days, do well my daughter."

"Won't you be here?"

"Sadly, no. We've gotten report of disturbances along the Hun boarders, I leave in the morning."

"Oh but Baba, can't they send the local troops?"

"They have, three days ago."

"And?"

"Yesterday the head of every man in those troops were delivered to the Imperial Palace," he answered and bowed his head. Ming gasped in surprise. 

"Their… heads?" Ming asked and placed her hand to her throat. 

"A soldier's life is not a life of joy, my young daughter. It is a horrible life to lead."

"Then why do so many men become soldiers Baba?"

"Some men have no where else to go, some try to regain honor, others just have much loyalty to China."

"I am loyal to China! I am as loyal as any man!"

"But not as loyal as any daughter, no girl but you would talk to her father in such a tone as you," he said. She walked out in front of him and made him stop walking. 

"I was raised a soldier, Baba. Not a daughter, nor a wife. I would much rather die in battle then to bear any child." 

"I'm sure your husband will be very disappointed," he said and stepped past her and entered the house. 

Ming lay in her bed awake. The sun was just rising and the orange light came through her window and made a shape on the wall at her feet. Her raven black hair fell in front and behind her face. She gripped her pillow tightly as she heard her mother bidding her father farewell then the sound of his horse trotting out of the yard. She didn't want to go out to say good bye to her father. She had done it so many times before, it was always the same. He hugged her, kissed her on the check, and promised his quick return. He'd give her the pendant he wore around his neck and asked her to hold it for him until they met again. She heard the soft steps of her mother on the wooden floors approaching her door so she quickly began to pretend to be asleep. The door to her room opened and she heard her mother enter. Mulan walked over to the bed and set something on the table beside it. Ming heard her mother leave and the door close. She waited until she could no longer hear her mother's steps. She opened her eyes and saw her father's pendant on the table beside her bed. 

Fa Li walked into the room and shook her granddaughter awake. Ming moaned slightly not realizing she had fallen back asleep. 

"Ming, wake up, you have chores to do," her grandmother told her. Ming sat up and yawned. She matted her hair down hoping she wouldn't look too ridiculous. 

"Grandma? What time is it?"

"Seven, and the chickens are hungry."

"Then the chickens and I have something in common, hmm," Ming said and rubbed her stomach. Her grandmother sat next to her on the bed. 

"Mulan tells me you didn't see your father off this morning," she said worriedly. 

"It wouldn't be different then any of the other times."

"Your father has a very powerful job, he has incredible responsibility. He is an honorable man, you should do much to learn this."

"I know he is a good man, a good general, but as a father he leaves things to be desired." 

"When your mother was young, very young, your grandfather was a soldier. She said much of the same things about Zhou that you say of your father."

"Yes, but then Grandpa got hurt, and could no longer be a soldier. I don't want to wait for Baba to get hurt before I can have a father."

The rest of the day went normally with less training and more studying, and the nagging feeling that something was missing from the family's life. Ming sat in her bed as the sunset reading by candlelight. She read the words aloud trying to remember them. 

"Perform your duties quietly and carefully. Reflect before you act," she said to herself. She huffed angrily and lay back onto her bed. She set the papers on the table beside her bed.

"I can impress the Matchmaker, that's no problem. Whoever I marry will think I'm perfect. Oh but I don't know how I'll be able to live my life as just a housewife. Serve tea, give birth, and raise children. Never have any fun. What a terrible future," she said and blew out the candle. Mulan stood outside her door, listening to her daughter's grief. Mulan sighed and walked away. 

The sun had set so the stone sidewalk was cold beneath Mulan's bare feet. She kept a quick pace until she reached the altar where the ancestor slabs were kept. She lit the incense over her family's slabs and knelt. 

"Oh great ancestors, you have helped my family and myself much in the past, but please, oh please ancestors, help my daughter find joy. She is young but smart beyond her years, and very talented, she is my pride. Please great ancestors of the Fa family, help my daughter find her true happiness," Mulan prayed. She could feel the presence of Mushu smiling on her and she smiled herself. 

"Thank you," she said. 

"Ming! Ming! Wake up you'll be late!" Fa Li said rushing into her granddaughter's room frantically. The morning sun had risen and the room was a bright yellow.

"Don't worry Grandma, I'm ready," Ming said as she walked over to her grandmother wearing a pink, purple and blue dress which covered her feet and hands. Her hair was tied up with a flower pin holding it in place; a lock of hair fell over her forehead. Her face was painted white with blue over the eyes and dark red lips. Fa Li smiled at the sight and smell of her beautiful granddaughter. 

"Your mother was incredibly late for her preparation for the Matchmaker, I am glad to see you are on time."

"I was raised the daughter of a general Grandma, time is very important. I wish this weren't so uncomfortable though," she said and scratched her back. Her grandmother smiled. 

"A woman does very few things that are comfortable in her lifetime," Fa Li said as they started walking out of the room and down the hall. 

"Oh joy," Ming said sarcastically. They walked out of the house and joined with Mulan. They walked out through a crowd of people come to see the porcelain dolls march to what Ming considered the end of their future. 

"Bring honor to us Ming," her grandmother told her and Ming walked quickly to the other dolls.

"Be nice," was her mother's advice. Ming smiled and joined in at the end of the line. The two dolls in the lead went to the left; the next two went to the right, leaving Ming to take the center. They all unfolded their umbrellas and bowed low to the ground, hiding them from the Matchmaker's house. The Matchmaker stepped gracefully from behind the doors. She was very elegant and beautiful. Ming stared at her in awe from behind her umbrella. 

"Li Ming," the Matchmaker said in a melodic voice. Ming rose as gracefully as she could and folded her umbrella. The Matchmaker turned to go inside of the door.

"Follow me," she said. Ming walked into the house as gracefully as she could but she could sense she still had a soldiers step. She could hear some people outside chuckling as the doors closed behind her. The room was laced with fine clothes, plants, carved wood, and the scent of tea with mint. 

"You have a man's step," the Matchmaker said walking around Ming after closing the doors. 

"I am sorry," Ming said to the Matchmaker's surprise.

"Don't be, when my brother and I were young, I would mimic his soldier training, I walked like a man for years," she said and laughed slightly at the memory, putting Ming more at ease. 

"Don't worry, I'm not going to have you recite anything, I just say I do to scare you," the Matchmaker said sitting behind a table and beckoning Ming to join her. Ming sat across the table from her, her feet folded under her. 

"Then how do you make matches?" Ming questioned beginning to pour the tea for both of them by habit. 

"I judge a girl by her manor and personality, not by her memory. Young men tend to enjoy a person rather then a puppet."

"Oh," was all Ming could think to say. 

"So you are the daughter of General Li. That makes you my great niece you know?"

"It does?" Ming asked in surprise. 

"Oh yes, I am Li Liang, your grandfather was my brother."

"I did not know my father has an aunt."

"He might not even know. You see I didn't marry, my family disowned me. My brother and I kept in touch and some how I became the Matchmaker for the Imperial Court. Life works in funny ways sometimes."

"I have long ago learned that lesson," Ming said and sighed. Liang laughed. 

"Indeed, I have forgotten who your mother is. I saw her standing in the crowd, a very elegant woman."

"She could still whip me clean in a fight though," Ming said relaxing her back. She realized she was slouching and straightened her back immediately. Liang laughed some more.

"So you have been trained as a soldier. You'd be surprised how many families wouldn't mind having a girl with military training marry their son."

"A wife and bodyguard in one."

"Indeed. Though I doubt how much the men like it."

"I can imagine it'd be quite humorous, a tall man being protected by his porcelain doll wife," Ming said and took a sip of her tea. 

"I never liked that term, to mean all the girls are not at all doll-like. They tend to be either nervous or incredibly annoying. Don't let the princess fool you, she came to me last year, she's a snake of a woman. Tried to bribe me to let her marry a handsome man instead of a rich one."

"What did you do?"

"I made her marry the richest and oldest man I could find."

"You are a Li!"

"I said I was. Her father was quite glad for the match too, her brother got a kick out of it as well."

"You know for the life of me I can't remember his name…"

"Who, the prince? De Sheng, he's joined the army you know."

"I'm sure my father will be glad to know that he can boss around the future emperor when he returns." 

"Where has the General gone?"

"I'm afraid I can't say."

"You certainly are loyal."

"I'm sure that will help find me a husband."

"Finding a suitable husband for you shall not be hard, you are the most astounding woman I have ever met."

"You say that because I am your great niece," Ming said rising as Liang did. 

"You speak your thoughts as well. Tell me, Ming, do you wish to marry?"

"I wish to bring my family honor."

"But do you wish to marry?"

"I do not."

"Then I shall find you a man who feels the same. Good day Li Ming, good luck," she said and bowed. Ming bowed too.

"And to you, Great Aunt," Ming said and left, not bothering to hide her soldier's step. 

Li Ming rode as fast as the wind on a sturdy bay horse through the fields on the outskirts of her village. She heard the sound of the horse's hooves hitting the farmed ground mix with the sound of the uncut wheat hitting the horse's legs. She felt herself rise and fall with each motion and step the horse made. She could feel the wind from speed blowing on her face and keep her hair flying behind her. She smiled at the taste of true and complete freedom. She heard her name called and looked over to see a farmer waving to her. She waved back and yelled a greeting. The horse stopped suddenly and Ming went flying through the air with a deafening scream. She landed in the sandy creek that was right at the horse's feet. Ming grumbled and pulled a leaf from her soak hair. She stood up and walked back onto dry land. She shook her legs to hopefully get water off them. She took off her shoes and poured water from them. She squeezed out her hair and then shook herself like she had seen wet dogs do. She had always wanted to try it. Her head spun and she felt dizzy. She paused for the feelings to go away before she mounted her horse and turned him around. 

"You have a weird sense of humor," she said as she urged the horse to trot homeward. 

Ming walked into the courtyard of her home still squeezing water from her hair just as an Imperial Guard trotted out of the large wooden doors on a white stallion. Mulan stood alone in the middle of the courtyard holding a scroll and her head looking down. Fa Li stood by the door into the house looking at her daughter with worry. Ming walked over to her mother, her shoes sloshing with each step, getting covered with dust from the courtyard's ground. 

"Mother?" Ming asked worriedly, seeing the sad expression on her mother's face. Mulan looked up at her daughter and wiped an oncoming tear from her eye.

"Ming, daughter, your father's troops have been captured by the Huns. Di Ren, the Hun general, has asked for my head in exchange for the troops," Mulan explained. Ming was too shocked to react, so Mulan continued.

"The Emperor, the Emperor says he will recruit more soldiers for a rescue mission. He is hopeful."

"He is lying," Ming finally said, gritting her teeth in anger. 

"I know, but it was all he could say. You should know, I sent to him that if, that if the recruits are unsuccessful, I will give myself up."

"Mother you can't!"

"I can, and if I must, I will," Mulan said simply. 

"So either way I lose a parent!" Ming yelled and ran past her grandmother to her room crying. Mulan sighed and a tear ran off her chin and landed in the puddle of water where her daughter had just been standing. 

The next day Ming performed her duties quickly and angrily. Mumbling worries and regrets to herself. As she was sweeping the stone steps in the back of the house she heard the sound of a horse hoofs coming through the front gate. She quickly dropped her broom and ran around to the front of the house. She got there in time to see a man in soldier's garb dismounting a horse. She knew who she was at once and smiled widely.

"Ling!" she yelled as she ran over to him. He noticed her and smiled back as she hugged him.

"Hey watch the armor Ming, I wouldn't want you to bang it up or anything," he said. She punched him playfully on the chin. The smile on her face turned into a worried expression. 

"You're not supposed to be home for another month…"

"I know. They, they've called for me to join the army since I'm doing so well at the academy. They want me to look for Baba. They told all of us that we would be meeting in front of the Imperial Palace to receive orders tomorrow morning. It's only a mile from here so…"

"It is good to see you brother," Ming told him.

"Good to see you too, I kind of felt like only half myself when you're not around."

"Mother says twins are like that."

"How is Mother?"

"I haven't spoken to her since we found out, I wasn't at breakfast."

"Why not?"

"I wasn't hungry."

"At the academy they tell us it is better to grieve with food in your stomach then to just grieve."

"We have no reason in which to grieve Ling."

"You're right, of course."

"Now let's go tell Mother of your arrival, it will lighten her spirits."

Ming mumbled to herself as she scrubbed the floor in the Armor Room. Here they kept the armor that belonged to her grandfather and her mother. Along with the sword of Shan Yu and the Emperor's crest. There was a cupboard for her Father's armor but it was bear with the exception of his father's helmet and sword perched on top of it. There was also a cupboard for Ling's armor, which had been placed there early in the day. Ming dropped the dirty cloth into a bucket of dirt water. She dried her hands on her pants and walked over to the cupboard holding her twin brother's armor. It was night so the room was lit by candlelight. Ming had developed an odd quirk, when she couldn't sleep she'd clean. She opened the cupboard and studied the armor in the flickering candlelight. She ran her hand over the finely woven breastplate. The armor would fit her easily, she knew, she had been the model for it as it was being made for her brother. They looked alike and were the same physical type, only she was a girl. She lifted the sword and held it in her hands and went through the paces. Both of her parents had taught her how it was to be a soldier. She was as good as any man. As she was placing the sword back a roll of paper tied with red string fell from somewhere on her brother's armor. She picked it up and read it. It was his order to the Imperial Palace. Ming gripped it in her hands and looked over at the cupboard holding the armor her mother had worn when she had saved China. Ming smiled as she rushed from the room.

Ming walked into her room and changed into her training gear. She wrapped her hair up in a bun and wiped the make-up her grandmother made her wear off. She was about to leave the room when she saw the moonshine glimmer off of something near her bed. She turned around and saw her father's pendant on the table by her bed. She walked over and picked it up. She lifted it around her neck and left the room.

She walked into the barn in full armor, it had been awhile since she had worn armor, and it felt odd but natural. She saddled her horse and mounted it.

"Let's go! And you can leave your sense of humor here," she said as the horse took off. Ming could feel the sword at her side bouncing with the animal's movements. The moon was beginning to vanish and the sun was rising, giving just enough light for her to see. She learned how to ride a horse going back and forth to the Imperial Palace and had ridden there many times since, so she knew the road well. She could get to the Imperial Palace in about fifteen minutes, she could get something to eat and still be early to get her instructions. She ran her story through her mind to make sure she got it right. Her name was Li Ling, son of General Li Shang, and had been ordered to come to the Imperial Palace. All she had to do was keep her chest hidden, her hair up, and answer to the name Ling. She could do that, she knew she could. She'd be so good of a soldier she'd move up through the ranks and be put in the troops that would go to rescue her father. She would bring her father home. She swore that to her mother and family as she rode into the Imperial Palace.


	2. second bit

Ming quickly brushed grains of rice off of her armor and wiped her mouth with a sleeve. She had seen her father and brother doing that whenever her mother wasn't looking. She rode up to the area before the steps that went up to the Imperial Palace itself. Ming had long ago gotten used to the grandeur of it, but she never got over knowing that this was the place where her mother saved the entire Middle Kingdom. She smiled with pride as she rode through men who where also called there. Some of them looked too young or too old to be soldiers. Training would be brutal on them. The young ones would turn into men and the old, well, she didn't want to think. She heard the gongs ring and every man's attention turned to the top of the long row of steps. The Emperor stepped to the head of the stairs and everyone bowed. His council members stepped up beside him, as did a young man in armor. Ming guessed that would be De Sheng, the prince. 

"Men of the Middle Kingdom! I thank you for helping to retrieve the soldiers we have lost to the Hun army!" the Emperor started. He wasn't the same emperor who had bowed to Mulan; he was his eldest son. 

"Now each of you will have to under go training to become China's finest soldiers!" he finished and he and his councilmen left. A heavy-set man in the crowd, a soldier, started yelling out that men who have had any military training should gather by the stairs. Ming steered her horse toward the stairs, eyeing every other man she saw headed in the same direction as her. She saw a group of three men who all looked the same. She reached the stairs first and got to them the same time De Sheng reached the bottom. She bowed to him and he smirked, which she thought was very odd. Once all the men had gathered the prince eyed them all, surveying them. Ming realized she was the only one of horseback, she felt a little embarrassed sticking out so much.

"You men have had military training? You look like a bunch of women in armor!" he yelled out to them. Ming narrowed her eyes. She guessed princes don't have to worry about first impressions. Sheng had noticed Ming narrowing her eyes in anger.

"You, on the horse! Dismount and come over here," he commanded. She did so and handed the reins to a man standing near by. She walked over to me.

"Sir?" she asked.

"Do you realize that you are not soldier material?" he asked her. Her eyes narrowed even more. 

"Why do you say that, Sir?"

"Look at you, you're so small, you could fight a woman and lose," he told her.

"Size does not matter. You, as a member of the Chinese army should know that of all people. A single soldier once defeated the entire Hun army, thousands of men. In the Chinese Army size means nothing compared to the strength, skill, and intelligence of every single soldier in it, Sir," she told him.

"You said that quite sure of yourself, tell me what is your name?"

"Li Ling," she responded. She was Ling, not Ming.

"You may remount your horse Ling. All of you, follow me!" he said as he walked through the crowd. Ming remounted her horse and followed. 

Sheng had mounted a white stallion and was now leading the group of about thirty men to a campsite. Besides the Prince Ming was the only other person on horseback. She rode a little behind and to the right of Sheng, not wishing to cross paths with him. He would have to prove himself to her as an army captain before she would respect him. She felt that because he was born into a place of respect, he didn't have to be respected. Hundreds of people are born every year, should she respect them all? 

"Ling, come up here," Sheng ordered her. She obeyed and rode her horse parallel to his.

"What you were talking about, the entire Hun army being beaten by a single soldier, you were talking about Mulan, weren't you?" he asked. 

"I was."

"Are you aware that my family and her's are close?"

"I was."

"Are you aware she has a son and a daughter?"

"I was."

"Do you say anything but "I was"?"

"I do," she responded. He grumbled slightly and they rode the rest of the way in silence. 

The camp had been set up when they got there. The tents for the Prince, the supervising council member and the kitchen had been set up. The men had brought their own tents and set them up around the camp. Ming set her's up just up of the camp under a cherry tree beginning to bloom. Now she stood in the lineup the next morning in her training clothes. She saw a log sticking vertically in the ground and sighed. She stood at the end of the line farthest from the log so hopefully she'd be last. She noticed a young man sitting in front of one of the big tents writing on some paper in his lap. Sheng walked out in front of the line of people, taking off his overcoat and throwing it to the ground behind him. He walked back and forth along the row of men starting by the log. When he got back to where he started he pulled out a bow and arrow and shot it to the top of the log. If he had gripped the bow tighter the shot would have been swifter, Ming thought. 

"You," Sheng said pointing to the man closest to him, "retrieve the arrow. But don't forget these," he said as the man walked over to the pole. Sheng handed him one round stone tied to a strap.

"This signifies discipline," he said as the man's hand fell under its weight.

"And this signifies strength," Ming whispered.

"And this signifies strength," Sheng said as the man's other hand dropped to the ground.

"You need both to reach the arrow," Ming whispered.

"You need both to reach the arrow," Sheng said. The man tried, he failed. As did the next, and the one after that, and so on. By the time it was Ming's turn the arrow was still stuck in the top of the pole, and Sheng looked like he lost all hope. Ming grabbed the straps and easily carrying them to the log, she turned her head slightly just to give Sheng a grin. He noticed this and looked at her curiously. Ming swung the stones around the back of the pole so they wound together. She used them to easily climb her way to the top of the pole and throw the arrow at Sheng's feet. She had to admit, it felt good being so good at something every other man failed at. She climbed down the pole and handed Sheng the weights and got back into line, knowing very well every man there was looking at her in shock.

The rest of the day went like that. She already excelled at everything Sheng was teaching them. She even helped some of the other men. Then it came time for Sheng to stand at the ledge with a staff and a bucket of water on his head. In three groups of ten the men each picked up a stone and threw them at Sheng. Sheng repelled every one of them. Ming had to admit he was good. She was in the second group. While every other man picked up the smallest stones they could find, so they'd be harder to hit, Ming picked up a medium sized one. When Sheng told them to throw all the other men threw rocks right at him. Ming threw her's up into the air and landed it perfectly in the bucket of water with a "plunk" sound. The sound made Sheng look up by instinct and hence making him drop the bucket of water from his head. He didn't get wet but he still didn't look pleased. Her father hadn't been pleased when she first did that to him either. Her mother thought it had been hilarious. Ming smiled remembering her mother laughing so hard as her father picked up the bucket. Sheng handed the staff to Ming and shoved her to the ledge. He placed a bucket of water on her head and told the third group to take aim. Ming readied herself as all the rocks came flying at her. As she expected they were all medium-sized and were thrown to land in the bucket. She repelled them all easily. Sheng picked up a small stone and threw it at her stomach after all the others had been repelled. Ming dropped a hand and caught the stone quickly. She looked up at him and stared into his eyes as she threw the stone over her shoulder into the gorge behind her. 

Ming felt tired as she stood in the food line for her rice. She held her bowl and chopsticks and took steps forward as the line moved up. She sighed in boredom and looked around the camp. She saw the same young man who had been sitting in front of the tent that morning. She figured he was the supervising councilman. He looked too young to be one though. He wasn't wearing his hat that he had been earlier; he had his hair down and tied behind him. He looked as if he had been pampered his whole life, yet he still was well built. Sheng looked like a man who had actually gone through military training, with a well-built physique and a small scar under his left eye that made him look distinguished. The councilman walked over to her to her surprise.

"Are you Li Ling?" he asked. She nodded.

"The Captain wishes to speak with you," he told her and began to lead her in the direction of Sheng's tent. She placed her bowl and chopsticks into a fold of her clothes and followed him. Sheng's tent was a golden color with dark red trimming. The councilman lifted a flap of the tent and told her to go it. She found Sheng sitting in the middle of the room looking at a map of China and eating casually from a bowl of rice. He looked up as the flaps closed behind her, leaving the two of them alone.

"You wish to speak with me, Sir?" she asked.

"I do," he said beckoning her to sit on the ground opposite of him. She did so and her eyes surveyed the map. He was working on a plan of attack.

"Do you consider me a fool?" he asked her. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Sir?"

"You better me at the Imperial Palace, on the trip here, at the pole, on the ledge. Every encounter we have with each other you seem only to prove yourself better then I. So, do you consider me a fool?"

"No, sir, I do not. I consider you one who enjoys being tested. Hence why you called me here, for a rematch. Now if you'll excuse me, Sir," she said standing up and walking out of the tent.

"Wait!" she heard him yell as he quickly followed her out of his tent. She continued walking away as he caught up.

"You consider yourself quite highly!" he said to her.

"I consider myself quite hungry," she corrected him walking toward the line for rice.

"You do know who I am, don't you?"

"You are a man who has been led to believe he deserves respect for doing something all other men and women have done. The simple act of being born."

"You are the bravest man I have ever met!"

"I am not a brave man, Sir."

"Then you are foolish?"

"I am Li Ling, Sir. I am no fool," she said as she continued walking even though he stopped surprised. 

"You're hiding something from me Li Ling, and I know what it is," he told her. She stopped in her tracks. Could he? 

"I hide nothing from you, Sir," she told him. He walked over to her, now grinning.

"I should have put it together sooner. Li Ling, I know who you are."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"You are the son of General Li, aren't you?" he asked. Ming felt a wave of relief rush over her.

"I am."

"Why did you hide that from me?"

"I did no such thing Sir," she told him beginning to walk toward the rice line again. Now she really was getting quite hungry. 

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

"Anything else about you I should ask?"

"Perhaps if I'd like to be part of the troops sent to retrieve my Father?"

"You have no choice in the matter, but of course you will be."

"Then I am glad I have no choice."

"You know, I'd be willing to bet that your sister is mad that you're out here and not her."

"I wouldn't bet against you," Ming said and smiled.

"How is Ming doing? I haven't seen her for, hmm, six years."

"She was at the Matchmaker's all but four days ago."

"She's old enough for the Matchmaker's already?"

"As am I," Ming said. It felt kind of weird talking about herself. 

"Me too, ha! Perhaps your sister and I shall be matched together!" Sheng said and laughed. Ming stopped walking frozen in her tracks with her eyes wide open. Sheng noticed and turned around curiously.

"Against the idea?" he asked smiling.

"I fear for your safety only Sir," Ming told him. Sheng laughed.

"You and Ming have a lot in common then?"

"Almost everything," Ming answered him.

"Then I fear for my safety as well," Sheng said as Ming started to walk again. She took out her bowl and chopsticks and got in line. The men in front of her bowed to Sheng. Sheng smiled at her. 

"Relax men, in the rice line all of us are nothing but hungry souls, right Ling?"

"Wrong, Sir. In the rice line we are all still under your command. We still must act upon your order and desire. You are our future emperor, and therefore in your presence we must bow," Ming told him and bowed. She replaced her bowl and chopsticks into her clothes and walked off in the direction of her tent. She could skip a meal, sleep would cure her hunger for a bit. 

Ming walked into her tent and made sure she tied the flap closed. It wasn't as large as Sheng's but was roomy enough. She untied her sword first and set it on the ground. She took her bowl and chopsticks and set them by her sword. She sighed and sat down on her mat.

"Ow!" she heard as she sat down. She quickly leapt off of the bed and grabbed her sword.

"Who said that?" she demanded. She took one hand and loosely tied her hair back up. Her eyebrow raised as something small moved to the end of her bed under the covers. She gripped her sword hilt tighter and the creature appeared. It was a small red dragon, almost lizard like. 

"Don't be sitting on me again," he said as he stood up and rubbed his head. He couldn't be more then a foot tall. Ming looked at it curiously. 

"Who, are you?" she asked. 

"Me? I am the powerful! The pleasurable! The Indestructible-!"

"Mushu, yea we know," a small blue dragon said walking into the tent. 

"You just have to spoil all my fun don't ya?" Mushu asked the female dragon. 

"Only when it's just foolish," she told him.

"Who are you!" Ming asked.

"Well this is Mushu over here, you probably heard of him. He's the one who almost botched up your mother's fate."

"Hey I did good!"

"Yea whatever. Well my name is Yang, and we were sent by the ancestors to help you," Yang explained. Ming set her sword down and sat crossed legged on the ground.

"I figured they'd send someone. But, why two?"

"Well ya see, the Fa ancestors and the Li ancestors couldn't decide who to send. So they sent us both, I'm from the Li family; I helped your grandfather become general," Yang said. 

"And I am from the Fa family, you probably already know how much I helped out your mom."

"Yes, Mother has told me of you, when I was a child she'd tell me stories of a small red lizard. Father would tell me stories his father told him when he was little, about a fierce dragon that was a blue as the midnight sky," Ming told them. Mushu frowned and Yang grinned tauntingly.

"But why are you two _here_?" she asked. Yang walked forward leaving Mushu still upset.

"Your Mother was worried about you, so the ancestors sent us to help you," she explained.

"But I don't need any help! I am excelling in all of the training and I am going to be sent to look for Baba…"

"Yes, but you've never been in battle, like we have. It takes a lot more then skill to survive a war," Mushu said. Yang looking at him. He sighed.

"Okay not much more," he confessed. 

"I was trained by the General of the Imperial Army since birth in all aspects of war, I was breed for it. And you say I've never been to war, you try going to the market place during the afternoon, _that's_ war!" Ming told them. The two dragons glanced at each other. 

"Alright, alright, you so don't want us here. But we gotta stay, cause it you fail it'll fall on our heads."

"Just like his failure cost a man his head," Yang said.

"Hey it was one little mistake!" Mushu defended himself. 

"Listen you can tag along if you like as long as you don't get me into trouble," Ming said as she lay down on her mat.

"Ah, she's a tough cookie," Mushu said nodding at Yang. Yang sighed.

"So young, so angry, damn that Koto music."


End file.
